Opinion on warming up

Not sure about 360s, but my 328 takes 10 minutes or more of sedate driving to reach normal operating temps. Idling in the garage, I don't know... once the car has oil pressure, I give it a minute and then drive off gently.

I don't think fuel delivery technology is the issue. It's getting lubricants properly circulated in the engine and gearbox. (Carb and FI cars do, however, have different starting procedures.)

 

I always thought that once the engine initially cranks and the oil sloshes around that the components inside the motor gets somewhat coated with oil. The gearbox on the otherhand needs to be engaged (I always engage through all the gears without releasing the clutch ((manual trans)) during initial warm up) in order for the fluids to properly circulate to coat all moving parts. With that said, I really feel that a high quality oil/trans fluid is highly recommended (on any cars) as "cold starts" is where internal damage is more eminent. Now, does anyone recommend using oil additives that clings onto engine and trans internals?

 

Whenever I start my car, I always idle until the RPM's have dropped to their normal idling level. Then drive at a reasonable manner and shift under 3500 for 10-15 minutes, or oil has reached optimum temp.

 

I do a few stretches, knee bends, lunges...

 

Warm up is necessary but can occur while driving. Watch the "oil temperature" and you will see that it corresponds to the "oil pressure". Cold oil does not flow well (although synthetics are much better) and the car (unless pre oiled) will have some metal to metal contact whenever started (worst part). After starting the motor, keep revolutions under 4,000rpms (as indicated in manual). If you want to see what happens when driving too quickly look at the oil pressure pegged to extreme and you will understand what to look for and why you wait. Best

 

I guess it would take 20-30 minutes. I generally compromise by idle in the driveway about ten minutes and then drive low RPM until the oil temp gets up.

I don;t know if it it is specific to my 360, but it takes pretty long for the oil temp to go up. The water temp moves in minutes, but I could drive a half hour if moving from cold and hardly have the oil temp budge.

The dealer told me for an F1 to give it one (summer) to four (winter) minutes before driving. No problem with that, its fast idle most of that anyway. This is presumably for the transmission.

After that, he said, drive off and keps the revs 3.5-4K, As I said, thats annoying for me because I can be driving 30 minutes like a Rambler and 1/4 tank gas is gone and I put 20 miles on just trying to get ready for my drive, so I idle it about half the time. Ten minutes letting it run makes me happier.

Somewhere I got the idea that for modern engines there is no need to warm them before driving. Driving slowly is best in terms of warming up and lubing parts. I simply idle a little so that I am less constrained for the time I will be driving, if that maks sense.

The dealer also said to check the oil (which has to be done at operating temp., they idle for a while than have someone drive the car around awhile because it takes a good interval to get the oil up to temp.

 

It is not just your 360. By the time I get to work (13 miles), oil temp needle has barely moved. Water temp goes up fairly quickly (3-5 miles). I'm in Atlanta, and the weather has been in the high 50's and 60's. Hopefully, it'll get warmed up quicker during the summer!

 

Short shift keeping any eye on rpms to enjoy as much as possible and not risk revving too high before warm up?Allowing a car to warm up before you leave the garage is not going to harm it either. Secondly, synthetic oils help a great deal. Best

 

I always short shift, but the other day I actually was able to get the car up to temperature. Tried out the upper range for shifting. Completely different animal, in a good way. As for synthetic oils, it's always had Agip. For some reason, the dealer said that even Mobil 1 synthetic isn't good enough.

 

I find it hard to believe that Mobile 1,Aqip, or nay synthetic motor oil is "bad". At least these two have been tested by road racers world wide. Glad you good let it out a little bit - it truly is a different animal at speed. Best

 

A 30 sec warm up just to ensure that the oil has reached all the vital engine parts and then drive away. Continue warm up while driving under light load until proper oil temperature has been reached. Warming up at very low engine load, i.e. at idle will contribute to higher engine wear. Engines wear very little when they are operating in the normal operating range because there is good lubrication due to oil flow and there is practically no washing of the cylinder walls by impinged fuel.
Does not matter whether warm up is done on a highway or some side streets.

 

I just stuck with Agip so that when I go to resell, I can say that I stuck with factory recommendations from the beginning. I agree, Mobil 1 is probably as good if not better.

Tarek - Good point on idling producing more engine wear. Oh well, guess I have to drive it longer to get it warmed up. Makes me wonder, though. If most 360's have low mileage, the actual miles enjoyed are even lower due to the warm-up period. So, of the 26k miles I have on mine, I bet half were during warmup